Top 10 Highest Earning Video Game Publishers of 2017’s Fiscal Year

10) NetDragon Websoft

$238 million

Editor’s note: This article ranks each publisher by its consolidated GAAP net income over a 12 month period. It should be noted that a company’s “fiscal” year differs depending on its country of operation. In most cases, the date range is April 1st 2016 – March 31st 2017, but in the case of Chinese and Korean companies, it ends at the close of the calendar year.

NetDragon Websoft is a Chinese company that has been developing and operating both massively multiplayer online games and mobile applications since 2002. Many of its most popular games are based on licenses of western IPs, such as Disney Fantasy Online. Although video gaming comprises its most lucrative avenue of business, NetDragon also has a strong presence in the education sector. It is best known for launching the world’s first K12 education tablet, 101 Pad.

2016 was a stellar year for the company, increasing its game-related revenue by 22.8%. Notably, revenue from the mobile game business more than doubled compared to the year before. In addition, NetDragon continued to leverage on the strong titles of its flagship games, Heroes Evolved and Eudemons Online, by launching new expansion packs coupled with marketing events to drive the growth.

NetDragon has found success with mobile spin-offs, noting that “continuous improvement in new gameplay features and monetization schemes” has been at the heart of its revenue growth on the platform. The mobile version of Heroes Evolved was “the top downloaded mobile game” on Tencent Open Platform in January 2017. The Company has planned two new games leveraging the technologies and title of Heroes Evolved to be launched in 2017, which it hopes will further increase user base and revenue.